Habig to tackle WRC’S Wales Rally Great Britain
SA’S Habig is no stranger to the UK. He finished 8th back in 1994
NE OF South Africa’s most experienced rally drivers, Jan Habig, is in the United Kingdom this week to compete in a round of the World Rally Championship.
The multiple SA champion will be contesting the Wales Rally Great Britain in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC car liveried in his local Basil Read sponsorship colours.
Habig’s navigator for the event will be 32-year old Robbie Durant from Oxfordshire in England. Durant is a full-time professional navigator who has navigated in a vari-
Oety of rallies including the rallies that make up the United States Rally Championship. He is currently also navigating in the Intercontinental Rally Championship.
The new pairing have already completed some testing in the full WRC-spec car in preparation for this weekend’s race.
“We completed approximately 50km of stage testing today, on roads that leave absolutely no room for error,” said Habig. “It is very different to the S2000 spec I am currently running in the South African Championship and requires a more aggressive driving style.”
Jan Habig isn’t a stranger to the conditions in the UK, as he and regular navigator Douglas Judd first competed there in 1994 in a Ford Escort that Habig built himself. He finished 8th.
The Rally of Great Britain was first held in 1932 and is one of the oldest running rallying events in the world.
This weekend’s round will consist of 21 special stages of about 400km in total length. Habig will miss the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally, a round of the South African championship because of clashing dates. He is currently third in the SA national rally championship.